What's New?

Updated December 2014

EPA, in coordination with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), responded to public comments regarding the Administrative Settlement and Order on Consent for Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study, which took effect December 9, 2014. This document is also known as the 2014 Remedial Investigations/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) Settlement Agreement. It sets out Cotter’s legal obligation to conduct an RI/FS in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund. Additionally, the Radioactive Materials License No. CO 369-01 Amendment no. 54 and Agreement Regarding Licensing and Remedial Requirements were issued. The amendment and agreement documents are available on CDPHE's website.

The Lincoln Park site has recently been awarded a regional seed by the Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) in EPA Headquarters. Regional seeds are resources provided by the SRI to communities at the request of EPA regional staff. More information about regional seeds may be found in the Reuse section below.

Site Description

The Cotter Corporation Uranium Mill in Cañon City started producing uranium oxide, or yellowcake, at the mill in 1958. In addition to producing yellowcake, the mill produced both vanadium and molybdenum as by-products. The mill was originally licensed by the Atomic Energy Commission, but the authority for licensing was transferred to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in 1968.

During the operation (1958 to 1979) of the former alkaline leach mill at the site, tailings were discharged into unlined impoundments, now known as the old ponds area. Sand Creek flows from the mill area north towards the residential area named Lincoln Park. A flood event in June 1965 caused the unlined impoundments in the old ponds area to overflow into Sand Creek. In 1972, a flood control dam was completed by the Soil Conservation Service on Sand Creek, approximately 0.8 miles north and downstream of the mill area. Since the dam’s completion, surface runoff and spring flow which emerge up-gradient of the dam have been impounded at the dam, and since 1979 this impounded water has been pumped back to the primary impoundment.

The Lincoln Park site was added to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1984. The Superfund listing includes Cotter's 2,600 acre uranium mill and areas where contamination occurred. Historic releases to the environment were found to affect surface soils and groundwater in neighboring Lincoln Park.

Lincoln Park is a semi-rural community located two miles south of Cañon City, about 1.5 miles north of Cotter's property. Many of the residents have gardens and orchards and some raise livestock. The mill is in the Sand Creek drainage, which flows through Lincoln Park to the Arkansas River.

Site Risk

Cotter disposed of tailings and other wastes from uranium processing into unlined ponds before 1980. Contaminants leached into groundwater, then migrated to Lincoln Park, affecting local wells. Few residents use groundwater for domestic purposes. Most are connected to the Cañon City water supply. Some individuals in Lincoln Park still use groundwater to irrigate lawns and gardens.

The contaminants of concern at the site are molybdenum, uranium and uranium daughter products. Repeated exposure to molybdenum can cause increased uric acid accompanied by gout-like symptoms. Molybdenum poisoning can be severe in cud-chewing animals that eat feed low in copper. Uranium is a radioactive metal; it occurs naturally in many rocks and soil. In its natural state, it has low levels of radioactivity. If swallowed, it can be toxic to the kidneys. Uranium breaks down or "decays" very slowly. It decays to radium through a series of chemical and radiological changes. Radium, radon gas and polonium are among the daughter products of uranium. Selenium and sulfate are also included in the contaminants of potential concern.

Cleanup Progress

The Lincoln Park Superfund site is now entering the RI/FS phase. The Administrative Settlement and Order on Consent for Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study took effect December 9, 2014. This document is also known as the 2014 Remedial Investigations/Feasibility Study Settlement Agreement. It sets out Cotter’s legal obligation to conduct an RI/FS in accordance with the CERCLA, commonly known as Superfund.

The purpose of the RI/FS is to determine the nature and extent of contamination and any threat to the public health, welfare, or the environment caused by the release or threat of release of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants at or from the site. During the FS, remedial alternatives are identified and evaluated to prevent, mitigate, or otherwise respond to or remedy any release or threatened release of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants at or from the site.

The Cotter Corporation Uranium Mill’s Radioactive Materials License, issued by the Colorado Radiation Control Program and Agreement Regarding Licensing and Remedial Requirements, was amended in December 2014 to incorporate the CERCLA process and the status as a non-operating facility.

EPA added the Lincoln Park site to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1984. In 1986, EPA and the state signed a Memorandum of Agreement giving the state the lead role in overseeing the Superfund cleanup of the site.

In 1988, the State of Colorado settled a lawsuit for natural-resource damages with Cotter Corporation. As part of the settlement, the state and Cotter agreed on how the site would be cleaned up further at Cotter's expense. This settlement document is referred to as the Consent Decree/Remedial Action Plan (CD/RAP). EPA is not a party to this settlement.

Cleanup at the Lincoln Park Superfund site has been conducted under the joint authorities of the Radioactive Materials License, the CD/RAP, and CERCLA. Documents related to this work can be found on CDPHE’s website or in the Site Information Repositories.

In 2002, EPA and CDPHE signed a Record of Decision (ROD) pertaining to residential soils in the Lincoln Park area, referred to as Operable Unit 2, recommending no further action, as it was determined that the cleanup met the Superfund standard for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure.

The following is a description of the Operable Units (OUs) and a map:

OU 1 – The sources of contamination on the mill site, such as the old ponds area

OU 2 – The Lincoln Park neighborhood (off-site impacts). Cleanup activities to date have focused on eliminating the mill site as a source of contamination to Lincoln Park, and eliminating exposures to Lincoln Park residents.

OU 3 – Other areas near the mill where there has been a release or threat of release of hazardous substances from the mill. This area has not been delineated on the map.

In 2013 the agencies and the community established a process to move the cleanup forward, called the Road Map. The Road Map provides an opportunity for more community involvement and to ensure transparency in the cleanup process.

Community Involvement

Community involvement plays an important role in the Superfund process. EPA uses a number of different tools and resources to promote effective, on-going, meaningful community involvement. The goals of the Superfund community involvement program are to:

Keep communities affected by sites informed throughout the cleanup process.

Provide opportunities for communities to comment and offer their input about site cleanup plans.

Facilitate the resolution of community issues tied to a site.

Cañon City area residents are actively involved in the remediation of the Cotter Mill/Lincoln Park Superfund site. A Community Advisory Group (CAG) has been meeting monthly for many years in Cañon City and has provided a forum for citizens to present opinions and for the CDPHE and EPA regulatory officials to present current information. A facilitator assists the CAG in conducting meetings. CAG meetings are currently scheduled on the third Thursday of every month from 1–4 p.m. in the Fremont County building. For more information on attending a CAG meeting please contact Jasmin Guerra or Warren Smith.

Reuse

EPA places a high priority on land reuse as part of its Superfund response program mission. The agency tries to select cleanup options that encourage and support future use of a site. We use two fundamental methods to facilitate reuse of Superfund sites:

Exploring future uses before the cleanup remedy is implemented, an approach that gives the Agency the best chance of designing cleanup remedies to support the likely future use of a site.

Working with landowners and communities to remove barriers not considered necessary for the protection of human health or the environment at those sites where remedies are already in place.

One option for reuse is the siting of clean and renewable energy projects on contaminated (or formerly contaminated) lands. As part of this effort, EPA is evaluating the potential for energy projects on these properties and working with landowners and communities to identify ways to remove barriers to such projects.

Property reuse is determined by several factors, including the intentions of the property owner, county zoning ordinances and community input.

The reasonably anticipated future land use is typically determined during the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) Superfund process. This information is considered during the development and selection of the remedy for the site.

The Lincoln Park site has recently been awarded a regional seed by the Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) in EPA Headquarters. Regional seeds are resources provided by the SRI to communities at the request of EPA regional staff. Regional seeds provide an important catalyst for communities and property owners to begin the process of returning a Superfund site to productive reuse and may assist in the identification of reasonably anticipated future land uses.

Many sites that have reuse potential are vacant and abandoned due to a lack of knowledge about the remedy components, the range of potential safe future uses and the key steps and players needed to transform a site into reuse.

The seed concept provides an initial investment to bring the right stakeholders to the table, clarify remedy constraints, and outline suitable reuse options for the local community and property owners to pursue.

Once the reuse planning process gains momentum, communities and property owners can leverage the initial regional seed investment with local resources to continue the process of transforming the Superfund site into productive reuse.

Work under the regional seed at the Lincoln Park site is in the initial scoping phase. More information about this will be available in the future.

Land Use Controls and Other Institutional Controls

Land use controls are the most common type of institutional control (IC). ICs are administrative or legal controls that help reduce the likelihood for human exposure to contamination. ICs can also help protect the integrity of the remedy. Examples of ICs are:

Zoning ordinances.

Environmental covenants.

Deed notices.

Well-drilling restrictions.

Building permits.

Informational advisories.

Options for institutional controls are developed as needed during the RI/FS process and selected in the Superfund Record of Decision as a component of the remedy. No institutional controls were selected in the 2002 ROD for Lincoln Park soils since it was determined that the cleanup met the Superfund standard for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure.

Five-Year Reviews

EPA or lead agency conducts five-year reviews following the start of a Superfund cleanup when contamination is left on the site. These reviews are repeated every five years. We use these reviews to determine:

How the remedy is working.

If the remedy remains protective of human health and the environment.

EPA, in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), has completed the second five-year review of the Lincoln Park Superfund Site. The purpose of a five-year review is to evaluate the implementation and performance of a remedy to determine if it is or will be protective of human health and the environment. This five-year review focused on the residential soils portion of OU2 since this is the only portion of the site cleanup so far to be addressed by a decision document. The five-year review was signed on September 27, 2012.

The "No Further Action" remedy selected in the 2002 Record of Decision for OU2 is protective in the short term because remedial action goals were achieved through prior cleanup actions and no waste was left in place. This allows for unrestricted use as defined by the National Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) License Termination Rule and unlimited use and unrestricted exposure as defined by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund). A remedy selection for the groundwater at OU2 is necessary to determine whether the soil remedy will be protective in the long term. Current studies indicate there is no statistical increase of contaminants from the groundwater into the soil as a result of long-term irrigation.

This five-year review is discretionary and does not require ongoing five-year reviews since the remedy for OU2 soils did not leave any waste in place that would prevent unrestricted use and unlimited exposure. Until statutory five-year reviews are triggered for this site, EPA may conduct further five-year reviews at its discretion.